FUKUOKA -- Jesus Sengoku, a charismatic cult leader who grabbed the nation's attention in the early 1980s after he went missing with dozens of his young female followers, has died in Fukuoka. He was 78.
The cause of Sengoku's death was not immediately known.
Born in Hyogo Prefecture as Takeyoshi Sengoku, he set up a bible study group in Tokyo in 1960. He renamed the group Ark of Jesus in 1975.
Six years later, he abandoned his Tokyo base and began life on the run with young female followers after their families accused him of holding the women against their will.
Police found him at his hideout with 26 followers in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, but Sengoku was cleared of any wrongdoing after investigators discovered the female followers joined him on their own accord.
Sengoku moved to Fukuoka and opened a hostess club with the women, which he christened "Daughters of Zion." The club also functioned as a base for his missionary work.
He had been living with his followers at the Ark of Jesus Hall he built in Koga, Fukuoka Prefecture, since 1993.